MotoGP race report: Grand Prix of Qatar

INDIANAPOLIS, April 13, 2009: Rain or shine, day or night, Casey Stoner continues to be the master of Qatar.

2007 MotoGP World Champion Stoner earned his third consecutive victory in the Grand Prix of Qatar, opening the 2009 season by winning from pole on his Ducati Team Ducati/Bridgestone. He never trailed in the 22-lap race, winning by 7.771 seconds over reigning World Champion and Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Valentino Rossi.

The night race was delayed one day at the Losail International Circuit due to heavy rain Sunday, April 12. Stoner won this event in 2007 when it took place during daylight and also won in 2008 and this year in races conducted under floodlights.

Stoner was the fastest rider in every session this weekend, and he built a two-second lead after the first lap.

“We knew this circuit is demanding for fuel consumption, and I had to adapt my style a little to keep the pace up and hold the advantage over Valentino, but finally we didn’t have problems at all with it,” Stoner said.

Rossi’s teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, rounded out the podium finishers in third on his Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone.

American Colin Edwards finished fourth on his Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha/Bridgestone with a strong rally after a sluggish start. Edwards qualified sixth but dropped to ninth on the first lap. But he recovered to pass five riders on the ensuing laps, capturing fourth from Andrea Dovizioso on Lap 14.

“That was a good start to the season after I made a rubbish start to the race,” Edwards said. “I thought I’d got a good start, but the next thing I know is everybody flying by me. I was way down, and it cost me the chance to fight for the podium, really. I’m not saying I could have run with Jorge because he was riding really well, but it would have been nice to give myself a shot.”

American Nicky Hayden, the 2006 MotoGP World Champion, finished 12th in his debut as Stoner’s teammate with Ducati. Hayden was uncertain to start the race – his 100th in MotoGP – after suffering a severely bruised back and a cut in his chest that required three stitches during a high-speed, high-side crash in qualifying April 11. But he climbed from his 16th starting spot to battle Dani Pedrosa for 11th, falling just three-tenths of a second short.

The next race is the Grand Prix of Japan on Sunday, April 26 at Motegi. The second annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP is Sunday, Aug. 30 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.